panda, how did piggy know she was going to see you in here? (^(oo)^)/"
For women in investment banking, or in finance: can you post some pictures of what you wear on a day-to-day basis?
here are some typical outfits i wore to the office (not for meetings; i wore business formal to those) as an analyst & associate covering the tech industry from SF:
marciano blazer, bebe dress, christian louboutin no. prive slingbacks, louis vuitton epanoui bag
armani exchange v-neck, armani exchange dress, christian louboutin rolando pump, cartier love necklace
guess blazer, dolce & gabbana shell, j brand indigo skinny jeans (the senior guys were all at an offsite that day
), versace booties, bottega veneta flower chain croc shoulder bag, chanel etoiles earrings
guess dress, christian louboutin privatita ankle wrap peep toes, hermès ficelle lizard birkin, cartier love necklace (this was at night; there was a cream bolero that went with this outfit during the day, i swear! hehe)
still, even suits don't have to be boring and drab; this suit from max azria atelier was one of my favourites for client meetings
Also, what do you think is considered work-appropriate? I find many articles in fashion magazines relating to work outfits are not professional enough (or too pretty) for women who work in finance. Do you find that sometimes you must dress down your best assets for work?
i find that in finance, girls have a TON more dress code leeway than guys do. as you can see above, there were even a couple of times where i got daring and wore (very very dark) indigo skinny jeans to work! this, however, is not advisable, please do as piggy says and not as she does! (^(oo)^)v
i also agree with
laurayuki's assessment that it's far more effective to dress attractively but modestly than to go with the drab & boring look.
Do you find that other women judge you when you are dressed too pretty?
i've found the women in banking generally split into three groups: there are the two
laurayuki mentioned (fashionable vs. cookie-cutter) as well as a third group which i find most interesting and very relevant to your study's topic. there seems to be a small minority of women who have the idea that you can't be smart *and* pretty at the same time, that's it's sort of an either-or proposition. these are the girls who try to be "one of the guys," who hate wearing heels, use the same crass language they hear the men use, etc.
these girls usually do not succeed. senior bankers typically find their tomboyishness off-putting, especially the male mannerisms . . . in fact I've had my MD & VP jokingly tell me (behind closed doors while waiting for a conference call to start) "get X to carry the books downstairs for you, she's practically a guy anyway!" this type of girl typically is very judgmental of the more stylish type, and will grumble that the pretty girls don't work as much, and they're always flitting around chatting with people. however, since the senior bankers don't care, why should we?
And men don't take you seriously?
when you work as many hours as bankers do, it's not possible to coast on the strength of good looks alone. when we get a new batch of analysts, we can generally rank them out by the end of the first 2 months or so.
i actually think appearance matters less in banking than in some of the "softer" professions, since there are more concrete measures of assessment in finance: either the model ticks & ties or it doesn't; either the books are done on time or not, etc. if you do poor work, nobody will take you seriously no matter how you dress.
on the other hand, if you rank at the top of your class every year, then being attractive & stylish is like a bonus asset. remember, most of the clients are men too; if they see a smart, pretty, competent female, they're going to find it pleasant to work with her, if only out of novelty! this was especially true in my industry, technology. i was the only analyst who had C-level clients ringing me up directly, which my MD & VP appreciated because it freed them up from playing middleman.
